DALLAS, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF)
announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell its dairy
operations in Puerto Rico to Grupo Gloria, a Peruvian conglomerate, for a cash
purchase price of approximately $122 million. Dean Foods’ Puerto Rico
operations consist of five companies including: Suiza Dairy Corporation,
Suiza Fruit Corporation, Neva Plastics Manufacturing Corp., Garrido y
Compania, LLC and Garido Alto Grande Corp.

Closing is subject to the buyer obtaining financing and receipt of
regulatory approval, as well as other customary closing conditions. The
transaction is expected to close on or before December 31, 2002.

“The sale of our Puerto Rico operations reflects our desire to more
closely align our assets and management resources with our ongoing strategic
direction,” said Gregg Engles, chairman and chief executive officer of Dean
Foods. “We do not expect the sale of Puerto Rico to have a material impact on
our financial results in 2003 and beyond.”

CONFERENCE WEBCAST

The management of Dean Foods will be presenting at the Morgan Stanley
Global Consumer Conference today at 3:50 p.m. eastern. The webcast may be
heard live by visiting the “Webcasts” section of the company web site at
www.deanfoods.com . In order to listen to the webcast, users will need
Windows Media Player software. Windows Media Player software can be detected
and downloaded by visiting the site. A webcast replay will be available on
the corporate website within the Investor Relations section of the site under
Audio Archives shortly following the event.

ABOUT DEAN FOODS

Dean Foods Company is one of the nation’s leading food and beverage
companies. The company produces a full line of company-branded and private
label dairy and dairy-related products such as milk and milk-based beverages,
ice cream, coffee creamers, half and half, whipping cream, whipped toppings,
sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, dips, dressings and soy milk. The company
is also a leading supplier of pickles and other specialty food products,
juice, juice drinks and water. The company operates over 120 plants in
38 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Spain, and employs more than 30,000 people.

Some of the statements in this press release are “forward-looking” and are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These “forward-looking” statements include statements relating
to, among other things, the company’s projected earnings per share. These
statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ
materially from the statements set forth in this press release. The company’s
ability to meet targeted financial and operating results during the remainder
of 2002, including targeted sales, operating margins, earnings per share and
cash flow depends on a variety of economic, competitive and governmental
factors, many of which are beyond the company’s control and which are
described in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The company’s ability to profit from its branding initiatives
depends on a number of factors including primarily consumer acceptance of the
company’s products. The forward-looking statements in this press release
speak only as of the date of this release. The company expressly disclaims
any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to
such statements to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto
or any changes in the events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement is based.

Contacts: Cory Olson

Senior Vice President and Treasurer
(214) 303-3645

SOURCE Dean Foods Company

-0- 11/11/2002

/CONTACT: Cory Olson, Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Dean Foods
Company, +1-214-303-3645/